News
Grammar Girl Book is Published
July 11, 2008--The first book from Mignon Fogarty, creator of the top ranked Grammar Girl podcast arrived in stores this week. Grammar Girl’s Quick And Dirty Tips For Better Writing brings to the page the clear explanations of the most confounding grammar rules and the sly wit that have inspired millions of listeners to download the newest Grammar Girl podcast episode each week.
Grammar Girl’s Quick And Dirty Tips For Better Writing is the handbook everyone needs to avoid the common errors that plague most writers. With chapters on dirty words like affect and effect, punctuation pitfalls like the dreaded comma splice, and the proper use of pronouns, Mignon Fogarty expands upon the memory tricks and clever examples that she has provided for the past two years in her podcast, and offers dozens of new ones. Squiggly and Aardvark, familiar characters from the podcast, also make the journey from the podcast to the page in illustrations that appear throughout the book.
In explaining why she wrote the book, Mignon said her motivation was the same as it was when she launched the podcast:
My philosophy is that learning about language should be fun. I’m not in this for the thrill of running a metaphorical red pen through e-mail messages or blog posts. Although writing badly is like dressing in lime skorts and an orange plaid sweater – people notice—publicly correcting a stranger’s writing is as rude as asking someone with a fashion problem “Did you thing that looked good when you got dressed this morning?’ I would do neither.
Readers can learn more about the book and download a chapter by clicking here. To purchase a copy, visit your favorite bookseller or click here.
Mighty Mommy Wins Best Parenting Podcast
March 23, 2008 (New York City, NY)--The Mighty Mommy, a Quick and Dirty Tips podcast hosted by Cherylyn Feierabend, has been named Best Parenting Podcast in the Podcast Peer Awards. Founded in 2006, the Podcast Peer Awards honor podcasters who are recognized by their peers as the most exceptional podcasters in the industry.
Every week, in addition to running her own business--a music and movement program for toddlers--Feierabend produces an audio program and Web article providing friendly, useful information for other moms (and dads). She draws from her experience as an in-home nanny, work in childcare facilities, and daily life with her two children. Her topics are often chosen from listener and reader questions. "The judges are five hundred of the best, most prolific podcasters in the world. They are not easily impressed. They only vote for the most entertaining, most informative, and best produced shows," says Dave Hitt, Podcast Peer Award organizer. "There are tens of thousands of awards in the arts. Very few are as hard to win as a Podcast Peer Award. The winners should be extremely proud of their accomplishment."
"I couldn't be prouder of Cherylyn," says Mignon Fogarty, managing director of the Quick and Dirty Tips network. "This much-deserved honor just underlines what Cherylyn's listeners and all of us at the Quick and Dirty Tips network already know: she really is a mighty mommy."
Grammar Girl Print Book Available for Preordering
February 20, 2008 (New York City, NY)--The Grammar Girl print book is coming July 8, 2008. Preorder your copy from your favorite online retailer or reserve a copy at your local bookstore.
Awards Were Won
August 15, 2007 (Gilbert, AZ)--The headline uses the passive voice, but at Quick and Dirty Tips we're actively excited about our podcasts' success during the recent award season.
Over 1.3 million unique people voted in the Podcast Awards, where Grammar Girl was voted Best Education Podcast and Money Girl was nominated for Best Business Podcast. The awards ceremony will take place on September 28, 2007 at the Podcast and New Media Expo in Ontario, CA, where Mignon Fogarty will be present to accept the Grammar Girl award. The Grammar Girl podcast was also nominated for the People's Choice award, the winner of which will be announced live at the Expo.
In addition, Quick and Dirty Tips podcasts were recognized for excellence by industry insiders at the Podcast Peer Awards, in which registered podcasters vote for their favorite shows. The Mighty Mommy won the Best Newbee Podcast (defined as a show that had been in existence for less than five months at the time of nominations), and Grammar Girl won Favorite Audio Podcast. Money Girl was also nominated for Best Business Podcast. The awards ceremony will take place at Dragon*Con in Atlanta, GA on September 2, 2007. Mignon Fogarty and Cherylyn Feierabend were unable to attend. Kinsey Swartz from The Tvindy Time Podcast accepted the Best Newbee award on Cherylyn's behalf and Mignon provided a taped acceptance speech.
Links videos of Mignon's acceptance speech:
mp4 (iPod/iTunes):
http://www.qdnow.com/PodcastPeers.mp4
.wmv (Windows Media):
http://www.qdnow.com/PodcastPeers.wmv
Grammar Girl Audiobook Available on CD
July 31, 2007 (Gilbert, AZ)--Following a successful release in March as a downloadable audiobook, Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips to Clean Up Your Writing is now available in stores and online as a physical compact disc (CD).
The one-hour audiobook from Audio Renaissance features 24 fun lessons from author Mignon Fogarty that address some of the most common mistakes people make while communicating. From “lay” versus “lie” and “affect” versus “effect” to split infinitives and run-on sentences, Grammar Girl offers clear explanations and effective memory tricks to help listeners write (and say) it right.
Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips to Clean Up Your Writing can be purchased for $9.95 at online bookstores like Amazon.com; brick-and-mortar bookstores like Barnes & Noble, Borders, Powells, and Booksense; and at select FedEx Kinkos locations.
The downloadable version is still available at iTunes and Audible.com for $4.95.
is the handbook everyone needs to avoid the common errors that plague most writers. With chapters on dirty words like affect and effect, punctuation pitfalls like the dreaded comma splice, and the proper use of pronouns, Mignon Fogarty expands upon the memory tricks and clever examples that she has provided for the past two years in her podcast, and offers dozens of new ones. Squiggly and Aardvark, familiar characters from the podcast, also make the journey from the podcast to the page in illustrations that appear throughout the book.